OPEN HEARTH INC
101 N Main Street No A-1, Spring City, PA 19475 www.openhearthinc.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Open Hearth, Inc., a private nonprofit organization serving Chester County and portions of Montgomery County, provides innovative programs to help people end the cycle of homelessness and achieve financial self-sufficiency. Through its own direct provision of services, as well as an established network of other nonprofits, the Organization supports and empowers people as they acquire affordable housing, a means of transportation, and financial viability.

The Family Savings Partner Program assists eligible individuals in building assets by providing matched savings for program graduates to be used for home purchase, education, or car purchase. The program provides educational workshops throughout Chester County on financial management, saving, retirement, grants, loans, home purchases, and budgeting. Through the FSP program of asset building and matched savings, OH helped 22 households, with 14 attaining their long-term goals. 125 people attended 29 free workshops on financial education. Since 2001, over 178 savers have graduated and acquired over 11.6 million dollars in assts. Through the Financial Insight and Resource Management program the Organization assisted over 314 households with budget counseling, credit repair, debt counseling and social service support. Our Financial Navigator serves as a point of entry for the PA-CareerLink and the United Way of Chester County Financial Stability Center located in Exton, Pa. The Financial Navigator's role is to complete an initial intake and financial assessment for individuals interested in accessing services located within the Financial Stability Center and to provide financial stability direct services. They also act as a resource coordinator in order to promote and achieve a client's goal(s) of increasing income, decreasing debt, and increasing assets. 283 households were served this fiscal year. Our Mobile Workforce Navigator provides community-based services to unemployed and underemployed job seekers with the primary goal of enrolling them into workforce development services like Individual Training Accounts and the JobGateway service as well as refer individuals to financial management and other social services in order to increase employment outcomes. 173 households received workforce navigation services this fiscal year.

Open Hearth managed permanent housing subsidies for over 70 individuals and families who experienced homelessness and have a documented disability via the Continuum of Care Permanent Supportive Housing Program (CoC). Open Hearth's Goal Achievement Program helped 14 families who were at risk of homelessness avoid eviction by providing case management and/or short-term rental assistance. 158 new clients were served by the Gateway Program, in partnership with Gateway Housing Group, which addressed the need for emergency housing for individuals or families experiencing homelessness with a mental health and/or drug and alcohol addiction diagnosis, providing up to 4 weeks' stay in a hotel, motel or boarding house while a person engaged in treatment. Zero interest/zero payment security deposit were also issued. Open Hearth received over 180 referrals to provide housing startup costs and emergency financial assistance to prevent eviction or utility shut-off to adult participants who met the criteria of serious and persistent mental illness through our Housing Contingency Funds. The Housing Stability Case Manager provided case management services to 12 households that previously experienced homelessness but were newly housed and needed additional support to ensure housing sustainability.

Open Hearth, Inc.'s mission includes the Organization's direction and ongoing efforts to strengthen the fabric of the community as it supports specific tasks that build the capacity of society to meet the needs of those that it serves. The Organization has taken a leadership position in the community regarding issues that pertain to housing, quality of life, stability, and empowerment. Our Executive Director serves on the Community Coalition board and was appointed to Chair the Governance Board of "Decade to Doorways" (D2D), Chester County's 10-year plan to prevent and end homelessness. She also co-chairs the Cross-Systems Partnership in the greater Phoenixville area that strives to reduce barriers to those experiencing homelessness. Several other staff serve on other community initiatives like the Chester County and Phoenixville ACE's Coalition and the Ride for Health Initiative. The Organization has created and published five editions of the popular "Help Book", a health and human services guide, as a resource for agencies, organizations, and community members to connect their needs to area services. Open Hearth, Inc. also created and administers the Phoenixville Area Resource Network (PARN), a monthly drop-in meeting attended by over 100 local social service agencies.

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Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202020459349301202_public.xml